Credit Card-Sized PC Raspberry Pi Debuts in January 2012

There aren't many personal computers that can stand out nowadays, not with tablets and consumer electronics drawing the eyes of customers, but those few that do manage to enrapture onlookers do it in style. 

The Raspberry Pi is one of these few that we have been keeping track of for the last couple of months. 

Even a video of it in action surfaced just at the beginning of December. 

Now, this computer that has the same size as a credit card is almost ready to start selling. 

In fact, contrary to what some may fear, the compactness does not involve a higher monetary cost than what regular PCs sell for. 

If anything, the item is very cheap, priced at as little as $25, or about 18.5 Euro according to exchange rates. 

The Raspberry Pi Foundation envisions a world where the Raspberry Pi is found in schools, homes, at work, everywhere really. 

Now, something almost concrete has been said about when mass production will start: in January, 2012. 

The credit card-sized computer is the result of five years of planning and development. 

It relies on an ARM processor with a clock speed of 700 MHz, plus 128 MB or 256 MB of RAM (random access memory). 

There is also a SD card slot (for storage, obviously) and a 5V Micro USB connector that supplies the power. 

Speaking of ports, in order to communicate with displays, Raspberry Pi is designed with RCA and HDMI ports. 

It should easily plug into a TV and perform any and all casual computing and web surfing tasks on its own. It even supports playback of 1080p videos, which is no small feat. 

Raspberry Pi is loaded with a version of the Linux operating system and is the foundation's way of proving that a PC doesn't have to be expensive and big in order to be versatile and easy to use.

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